Operation Dark Swan
by Raerie
Summary: Starts off at the end of season 4 and the beginning of season 5. Regina and Hook set off to find Emma. Merida enters the scene. #SwanQueen is endgame. Slow burner. Thank you so much for your support and for the lovely comments. Feel free to leave more. I'll update every day if I can. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

"What an idiot! There had to be another way," said Regina, mustering all the disgust she had left for the Savior's decision-making. _Why does she always have to make things so complicated?_ Regina thought, missing her best friend already. That's what Emma had become for Regina—her friend. In the best of ways, Emma was everything she'd ever wanted or needed in a partner; someone who truly had her back in every instance. And where was she now? Sucked up into some vortex of evil to god knows where, facing the darkness inside of her all by herself. This was a problem. When Regina said so, Snow mistook her assessment as Regina acting ungrateful of Emma's sacrifice. "She saved your life, Regina!" Snow exclaimed, seemingly shocked that the former Queen would take the event of Emma Swan becoming the new Dark One so lightly. Regina scoffed, "You think I don't know that?" she knew perfectly well the implications of Emma's actions. _Better than anyone else standing here_ , she mused—which was exactly why she had to jump to action quickly, before anyone else managed to screw anything else up in her life.

This had to happen just when she had finally seen her true feelings for Emma in the Enchanted Forest, in the land where she was a hero for the first time. She chose Emma and Henry over Robin Hood that day, and in the moment she stepped in front of Henry, she had made up her mind for the final time about what she really wanted. Now, all she wants is Henry… and Emma; their family. All Regina could think about when she awoke to find herself lying whole and unharmed in the main street of Storybrooke was how she wanted to take them both home, make them dinner and watch her favorite people laugh off the traumatic events of the recent past. "Emma" had been the first word she mouthed as she came to, amazing herself with her own candor. It was time to stop pretending. But instead, Emma ran off to check on Hook, and Robin pulled Regina into a tight embrace before the newly heroic Queen could utter her love's name again.

She looked at Robin, appraising him as he held her, swaying. "My love, I'm so glad you're all right," Robin exhaled as he held her tightly, as though he never wanted to let her go again. _Uh oh, this isn't going to be easy_ , Regina thought. She still had sympathy for the man. He was a great person, or at least he tried to be, and there was plenty to love about him. Unfortunately, it just wasn't the same. When she first met him, the attraction was real. But there's something about having the man you're almost falling in love with going back to his wife who turns out to be your sister who turns out to be pregnant, that makes him a bit of a turn-off now. She fancied herself a bit of a sapiosexual, and Robin just didn't seem to be using the muscle between his ears much lately. Who really wanted to date their wicked sister's sloppy seconds anyways? _I am a Queen and a bit more refined_.

She led Robin away to have a conversation with him in private. They had plenty to discuss. Hopefully nothing too serious happened between Emma and the pirate before she had a chance to have _that_ conversation. She'd worry about that later. First, she had to break it off with the lousy thief who failed to steal her heart, or keep it safe, for that matter.

…

Emma ran up the stairs to meet Hook before tackling him to the bed in her excitement. "Sorry to worry you, love," growled the pirate, as the princess pinned him down and a puzzled look crossed her face for a split second before she opened her mouth. She paused, thinking for a moment about what to say, wondering why Regina's face just flashed behind her eyes when she thought the words "I love you". She suddenly remembered what she wanted to do before Hook had so gallantly fought, and died, for her. "I wanted to tell you something back there…" Emma began, and paused. You could almost hear the crickets. _Mom and Dad must be listening from downstairs_ , Emma thought, wanting to magic some noise-canceling headphones on the pair of them. "Yes…?" Hook answered, trying and failing to hide that he sensed where this was leading, albeit slower than he liked. "I wanted to say… Thank you, for sacrificing yourself for me," she forced out. It seemed anti-climactic, even to her. "Of course, love," Hook sighed as the corners of his eyes lost a sliver of their smile.

"Come on, let's go get some food," Emma said as she hopped off the bed and turned to hide her conflicting emotions as they clouded her face. She really was bad at covering up her true feelings. But this was worse. She couldn't even figure out what her emotions were telling her right now. Everything was such a jumbled mess. Well, sorting this out was going to take time, and she simply didn't have any of that to spare. She took the thoughts that were forming the knot in her stomach and forced them to the shadows in the back of her mind. It was definitely time for some food to replace the knot. _Besides, maybe Regina's back at Granny's_ , her mind whispered to her like an unwelcome sidekick. She shook her head free of the thought as she grabbed her red leather jacket and Henry's book and headed for the door, with Hook and her parents trailing behind her.

…

When Emma showed up at Granny's with the rest of the crew, her dark-haired best friend was deep in conversation with the forest dweller, who ushered Regina out of the diner as Emma looked on. She took a break in the conversation with Hook and her parents as an opportunity to speak with her orphaned dragon friend instead. Just then, Belle burst in the door to warn the heroes of the danger they'd soon face; the untethered darkness that threatened all of their lives, their happiness, everything. Emma and the heroes rushed over to Gold's shop to help. For what seemed like the thousandth time that day, she wondered where Regina had gone.

…

As the heroes ran into the street, following the darkness, the Queen and the outlaw had just finished their conversation. "So you understand, then, why I can't be your true love?" Regina had questioned Robin, looking into his charming face, wondering for a moment whether she was doing the right thing. After all, why was she so quick to give up someone who seemed to love her so deeply before she even knew if Emma's feelings were reciprocated? His answer silenced her doubt, though, as he huffed, "Well, no. Not really, Gina. I don't understand why you keep trying to push me away, when all I ever wanted to do was love you." His unwillingness to hear her out was getting on her nerves. _This_ , she thought, _is why Emma is still the only one who understands me_. She thought of all the times she and the sheriff had only needed to share a glance, and in a moment could have an entire conversation with their eyes alone. That ability was something she felt was only shared between true soulmates. Having to explain herself to a thief who lived in a tent suddenly felt beneath her. She was just about to make a snarky comment to that effect when Emma, the Charmings and the Apprentice ran out of Gold's shop. She met the blonde's anxious look with her own questioning one. "What's going on?" Regina asked as she jogged towards the group.

…

**Flash to the Dark One's prison cell in the Enchanted Forest**

Emma… _At least I think I'm still Emma…_ paced back and forth across the damp rocks of the cell—if you could call it pacing, anyways… It was really more like marching against gravity. She couldn't "apparate", as she'd started calling it in her head, which she thought was a word from some other story about magic somewhere in her memory. Though, she _could_ walk on the walls and the ceiling like a vampire. The spells placed on this cell specifically to house the Dark One kept her magic chained to that time and place. She found her thoughts racing faster and faster as the Darkness started creeping into her memories. Emma began to explore all the new memories that came with being the Dark One… Memories of both past, present and future began to run together as she struggled to place them in a pattern that made sense, like an impossible puzzle of eternity, with all of the random pieces flying into her psyche at once. It was overwhelming and intoxicating all at once. To understand that every single detail of every moment mattered—and yet, nothing did. That knowledge alone could have made her insane, at the very least. At the most, it would do what it had already started to do: completely deplete her resolve to be the Savior of anything or anyone. When nothing mattered, she no longer had a responsibility to pretend there was a difference between right and wrong. Because she already knew the outcome of every situation, or the possibilities of every interaction, she was free to act without fear of repercussions. She never again had to give pause to think of others. Everyone would die, and she would remain powerful. Finally free of the burden of keeping all those idiots happy and alive.

 _Idiots_ , the newly platinum-haired Swan smiled in the darkness, her brows hooding her pale green eyes as she thought of the sexy Evil Queen's enemies in the forest. _My parents_ , she remembered suddenly, though she felt nothing but disdain for their mere existence. _The Dark One shouldn't have parents. It isn't dignified. I'll just have to kill them later._ It made her smile crease her face deeper at the thought of how happy Regina would be to see her longtime enemies slaughtered. _I'll bring their heads to her like a cat would bring a dead mouse to leave on the doorstep_. _She'll love it._ Emma pitched her head back and released a soprano cackle at the thought.

…

Back in Storybrooke, Hook was making Regina wonder if she hadn't been touched by the darkness for a few seconds too long, because the more indignant he became about being the one to get Emma back, the more murderous she felt. She had held on to Robin as Emma was being transported by the darkness presumably to another realm. She did so to stabilize herself so she wouldn't run after Emma and throw herself into the inky blackness like her dense former beau had done for her. For whatever reason, her grasp on him made his thick head think that they were still on. He was the least of her worries, though. Her princess, her Savior, her Emma, was in grave danger. Simultaneously, Emma was a danger to the whole town of Storybrooke as well as whatever realm she had landed in. God, why couldn't anyone just be HELPFUL for once? Why did the Charmings always have to create problems for her to solve? She was lost without the Savior at her side. _I guess I'll have to be the Savior enough for both of us now_ , Regina realized suddenly, choking back tears that threatened to give her away.

She didn't have time to cry. She had to get Emma back. Operation Mongoose was still in motion. Regina wouldn't stop until she had her happy ending. At least now she knew what it looked like. How had she not seen it sooner? If she had been able to _talk_ to Emma, maybe she would have understood that she _was_ Regina's happy ending, before Swan jumped into action to save her but ended up ruining everything all over again. _When I see her again, I'm going to slap her… Then I'm going to kiss her. But first I'm definitely going to slap her._


	2. Chapter 2

Regina fell through the portal and landed with a soft thud on the damp forest floor, with Hook landing on a fern a moment later. She got up and brushed dirt off her skirt. She had dressed for the occasion with plain brown skirt and fur-lined vest, so she'd blend in better. Hook was back in his usual leather garb and was acting as annoying as usual. Regina wondered yet again why she bothered letting him join her on this mission. The Charmings had agreed to watch Henry while she came after Emma, on the condition that she brings someone else with her as extra protection. No amount of insulting his guy-liner, intellect or fighting skills would deter Hook from joining her once they suggested the horrible idea. She knew she'd make much better time on her own. Since Robin had to stay with Roland it was easy to convince him not to come with her, at least. He was only beginning understanding that she meant what she said on their walk last week. One week. That's how long it took for her to find a clue in Henry's story book about Emma's whereabouts after she had disappeared. She was in a parallel universe that they could only reach through the Enchanted Forest. The book mentioned a magical item hidden deep in the woods beyond the mountains that could transport them to another land. In this land, the darkest and most powerful magic in the Universe was caged for all eternity… Or so the book said.

Regina decided to go on a quest to save the one imprisoned. If it hadn't been for Hook being slightly useful in spite of his irritating habits, she would have found a way to ditch the pirate. But he'd produced a secret he'd hidden away. He had failed to mention to Emma, or anyone else for that matter, that when he traded his boat for a magic bean to create the portal to travel back to Storybrooke, he traded his ship for not one, but two beans. One he used to get to Storybrooke and he had saved one in case Emma rejected him—in case he wanted to go back to steal the Jolly Roger and return to his life of piracy. He didn't exactly say the last part, but Regina inferred the rest. She knew he had commitment issues, but she didn't realize how deep they ran until she found out about the second bean. He always seemed to have a secret back-up plan to help him run when things got tough. Emma definitely deserved better, Dark One or not. In the meantime, she had to put up with him until she was able to speak with her Savior. No matter what Emma was now, she had been referring to her as _my Savior_ in her mind all week. The Charmings' unending line of "hope" bullshit was really getting in her head. The odd pairing of Queen and pirate set off through the woods towards the towering white-capped mountains in the west, both believing they were heading towards their true love.

Regina had finally procured them two horses along their path, after Hook's incessant complaining about why she couldn't just "poof" them over the mountains. At least riding a horse took enough of Hook's focus to keep his mouth shut. This welcome silence finally gave Regina time to reflect on everything that led up to her falling for the blonde princess. She hadn't really thought about it before, but she realized now that she had fallen for Emma immediately, right there in front of her own house, the day Henry brought her home to Storybrooke. Then she'd fallen for her a thousand times since. She had saved Regina in more ways than one, from the fire, the wraith, from a town that rejected her, and finally, from herself. Emma reminded Regina what love truly was every day since the first day they met. She began thinking of all the things she'd say to Emma when they reached her. She would have to use ironclad reasoning, since she'd be trying to convince the Dark One to give up her power. She knew how tantalizing all that power and darkness could be for a person. _The most powerful drug in the Universe_ , the Queen pondered, _besides Emma Swan, that is._ She chuckled a little at her own joke, and played it off as though she was clucking at the horse to urge it on faster. "Hurry up, pirate. At the rate you're going on that horse, we won't reach Emma until the _next_ Dark Ages—which could be sooner rather than later if we don't free her from the darkness in time."

They traveled on in silence for a while before Hook interrupted her reverie. "How is it that you, your Majesty, have found yourself so attached to Blondie that you are now willing to cross whole realms just to reach her? It wasn't too long ago that you would have stopped at nothing to end her existence simply for being borne of her parents. What changed between you two? You no longer wish to be Henry's only mother?" Regina caught herself bristling at his bluntness. _Does he honestly think I'd tell him before Emma?_

She jumped off her horse with ease and strutted towards the stream to fill up their canteens. "No," she kept her answer short, hoping he'd leave the questions alone. She needn't worry, though. Her attempt to evade questioning was interrupted as three arrows simultaneously buzzed through the air above Regina's head as she bent over the stream, each hitting their marks, effectively pinning Hook to a tree and immobilizing him before he could reach for his sword. "I knew the only way you'd be useful is if I wrapped a worm around your left appendage and threw you in the ocean to catch us dinner," she mocked before turning around to face their assailant, "Who's there? Come out before I burn down the trees you're hiding in," the Queen threatened as she conjured a fireball in her hand.

With more bravery than Regina was used to from citizens of the Enchanted Forest, a young girl with a head of fiery red curls appeared from the dense foliage. "Who the hell are you?" Hook exclaimed, still struggling against the arrows that ensnared him.

"I could ask you the same thing," retorted the redhead, with as much fire in her voice as in her hair, "and what are you doing in my forest?" Her accent was heavy and trilling.

Regina balked. She liked this girl. Her lack of fear reminded her of Emma. She almost smiled as she explained, "I'm Regina. This fish bait over here is Hook," gesturing halfheartedly in Killian's direction. "We're looking for a way between worlds—a magical item that acts as a gateway, if you will."

"Regina!" Hook seemed shocked that she'd share their objective so freely with this stranger. This Regina was indifferent. She wasn't about to waste time beating around the bush.

The young spitfire seemed reassured by the knee-jerk honesty. "I'm Merida. I know this land like me own hand. I can show you the way to a place of magic. But, I'll warn ye, it won't be easy."

"Well, neither is anything that's worth my time," Regina said quietly, earning her a sidelong glance from the immobilized pirate. The comment seemed to shake him out of his stunned silence. "Great, now that we've all made friends, would someone mind very much helping me out of this mess?" Merida glanced at Regina and rolled her eyes before turning to deftly pull all three arrows out of the tree and Hook's jacket, leaving several holes in the thick leather. The dark-haired woman finished filling up their water containers and hopped up on her horse. She was just about to ask their new guide who she'd rather ride with when Merida turned towards the brush she'd emerged from and whistled. A stocky horse with shaggy hair clomped out from the greenery. At the redhead's bidding, the tall horse lowered himself so the girl could swing herself up lightly onto his back. With as much experience with horses as Regina had, she'd never been able to train a horse like that. She allowed herself to be slightly impressed.

Hook finally managed to gain a semblance of control over his own mount, and they set off at a clip towards the base of the mountains. They reached a canyon between two mountains within a day, thanks to Merida's knowledge of the region's topography. "We have to find the Sampo," the girl said suddenly, breaking the silence that hung in the mist.

"The what?" asked Regina, her eyebrow cocked at the same angle of the mountain's peak.

"The Sampo," Merida continued, "is a magical item that has been enchanted to bring good fortune to those with the sense to find it. Trouble is, nobody knows _what_ it is, so it's a bit tricky to look for a non-descript item."

"What makes you think our little band of misfits can find it, then?" prompted the Queen as she let a wave of helplessness wash over her.

"The legend says that the item was hidden in the mouth of the Crone whose tears turn to flame at day's end. But only the rightful wielder of the Sampo will be able to find what they seek. The first part of the riddle's easy. I've climbed the Crone's tooth once before and drank from the Fire Falls."

Regina couldn't help but feel her hopefulness ebb, "And you think that one of us is the rightful wielder of this… Whatever it is?" she stopped for a moment, considering something. "What are you getting out of helping us on our quest anyways?" Regina's eyes narrowed as she tried to read behind the redhead's mask of bravado. Maybe she was going soft with all of this loving Emma nonsense. Since when was she blinded by a Tunnel of Love vision? _Focus, Regina. Emma needs you to be her Savior now. There is no room for stupid mistakes_.

Merida's eyes shifted between the Queen and the pirate as she fumbled for words to explain what brought her to their side. "Well, I sort of asked a witch for help to change my fate so that I wouldn't be forced to marry a man I didn't choose. She gave me an enchanted pastry that turned me mum into a bear, along with my brothers. We sorted that out and they all changed back, but the curse left a mark on me family. Da was forever changed from seeing his wife as a bear. He used to be the mighty Bear King, who could hunt and kill any beast that ravaged his lands. After the curse, he couldn't bring himself to kill anything, and his subjects started calling him weak and threatened to wage war to take our lands and divide them. We were forced out of our castle. My family went to live in solitude with our cousins in the south, where it's peaceful. They have my little brothers to think of. I chose to stay up north where the magic flows more freely. I've heard legends of a magician named Merlin. I've been searching for a way to find him so I can beg him to help me unite my father's lands once more in peace.

"How do you see yourself achieving that?" Regina said, barely holding back a smirk, "by giving your father back his courage? This is Merlin we're talking about, not the Wizard of Oz."

"No," Merida huffed, "I wish to take my father's place at the throne. Usually, that position requires that I marry someone from a neighboring kingdom in order to gain my birthright to the crown. However, I do not wish to marry. I just wish to end the war between my people. Every day, more people are fighting with their neighbors for food because nobody is monitoring trade between the clans. Every day, more people are starving, injured or killed. I can't stop until I end the chaos in my kingdom."

There was a pause while Merida assessed the pair's reactions to her story. Hook was the first one to speak up. "Sounds good, love. We'll help you if you help us, then, is it? Well, what are we waiting for?" he said curtly and turned to Regina, who, blinking her eyes rapidly as she processed this new information said, "Yes, well… Since we seem to be going to the same place, it can't hurt to keep going."


	3. Chapter 3

Emma had long since ceased her pacing of the cell. She had started hearing small whispers in her head. Quiet at first, each voice discernable from the next, until it became a steady rumble at the back of her mind. It wasn't bothering her. Not yet, anyway. She tried to focus on other things. Like where she was, for example, and how she was going to get out of this non-descript cell that was effectively stifling her powers. The dark thoughts she'd previously had about her parents had ebbed and waned as though it had merely been a wave of thoughts that crashed over her before retreating into the darkest recesses of her mind. That was good. Those thoughts were unwelcome. She knew who she was again. The savior. She reminded herself that she needed to keep her love for her family at the forefront of her mind to ground herself. The one thing that surprised her was how her attitude towards Regina had not soured with the darkness that now flowed through her. In fact, she felt a sudden pull towards the Queen that she'd been ashamed to admit to feeling before now. Wait, was it shame? Guilt? No, fear, maybe? She didn't know. Those feelings felt foreign now. How could she feel afraid of something as asinine as attraction when she had so much _power_? She couldn't imagine anything making her feel weak right now. Except those bars. The bars had to go. She summoned the guard to her when he came close enough to drop off a tray of rotten food. Presumably for her. Not that she would have eaten it anyways.

"What is this?" she sneered through the bars.

"It's dinner… Yours," the guard replied curtly.

"Now, that's no way to address a _princess_ , is it Jason?" the woman's eyes glowed slightly in the dark as she peered at him, accentuation the 's' in his name ever so slightly, coyly dragging out the syllables over her tongue. He leaned forward, trying to see this dark creature better, his curiosity overtaking his fear, as she seemed a disembodied voice blending into the shadows of the cell.

That was his last mistake.

She struck before he could retreat to safety. Her fist disappeared within his chest, only to reappear holding his bright red, glowing ember of a heart.

With a flourish, she snatched the keys to the cell from his belt before he stumbled backwards in shock, clutching his now empty chest, looking through the bars at the two glowing green eyes glaring back at him in stark contrast to his blood red heart.

"Now," Emma said, grinning wickedly, "the Dark Swan will rise."

And she crushed the heart in her hand, letting the ash flow through her fingers like an ominous hourglass.

Regina, Hook and Merida had finally reached the base of the Crone. The hollow mountain, as it was known, was named Ben Cruachan. It was the tallest mountain in the region. Merida explained to her travel companions about the legend of the Cailleach who tired from a long day of herding deer, fell asleep atop the mountain and allowed the well spring she was tending to overflow, flooding the land below the mountain, forming the river and Loch Awe. Just a legend, she explained to the two skeptics who rode beside her, but it meant that there must be a spring that welled up from within the mountain. They just had to find the spring, then according to legend, the Tree of Life feeds from the spring.

Regina looked around at the forest that had seemed to go on forever as they had urged their horses through thick brush and the occasional meadow the past few days. At the start of the third day she became even more travel-weary and anxious. She was trying not to think about how much time had passed since she last saw Emma, but she couldn't help the feeling of dread that was pressing on her chest, tried to ignore the feeling that she was too late, that Emma was already wreaking havoc without anyone there to guide her back to the light. She was the savior, but now Regina knew she'd have to save her from herself.

She knew how easy it could be to lose yourself to the darkness. Regina knew well the sharp tang of her enemy's blood on her lips. She knew the sweetness of power when it bubbled up and out through her fingers, feeling it crackle and pop like rock candy, as satisfying as a fourth of July fireworks display. Her reminiscent thoughts were cut short by an intrusive shiver that made its way up and down her spine. She felt an unseasonably cold breeze at the back of her neck that accompanied the chill like an afterthought. Her horse startled and threw back his head with a whinny like he'd just stumbled through a ghost. As Regina struggled to reign in the wild-eyed creature, Hook and Merida pulled on their reins as well, effectively backing away from the source of whatever had spooked the horse in the lead.

Within a few moments, Regina had regained control of her mount and turned around to face the pirate and the red-haired princess.

"What was that?" Regina demanded of their guide.

Merida searched the area with her brow furrowed. "No idea, lass," she responded slowly, still peering through the branches, her bright eyes penetrating the gradual darkness knowing that whatever it was likely would not be visible.

"There's a lot of magic in these woods. Best to step lightly."

"Right," the Queen said, a sharp edge entering her voice as she extinguished the fireball she didn't realize she'd summoned in her hand before gripping the reins again and urged the steed forward towards the rushing sound of water in the distance.

 _Hook has been uncharacteristically quiet the past couple of days_ , Regina thought once her heart rate had slowed to a normal pace. Usually he talked too much for her liking, but maybe knowing Emma was the Dark One had made him less sure of himself somehow. To her surprise, she found herself pitying him. She knew what it was to feel helpless when a loved one was suffering. Despite the unexpected sentimentality, she glanced over her shoulder at his stone-faced expression and decided that it would be better to leave him to his thoughts. Merida must have picked up on the silent exchange, though, because she spoke up.

"Captain," Merida started, formally at first, correctly reading that she should approach him gently. Hook responded wordlessly by looking at her under dark brows. "Are you prepared for what state ye might find her in?" the woman asked, almost callously as she flipped a lock of her bright red curls over her shoulder. "You know she probably won't be like the girl ye knew before. She'll be different. Even if she looks the same, ye can't trust what the darkness touches."

Regina stayed silent as Hook took this in.

"No offense, love, but I'm well aware of what darkness does to a person," Hook growled.

"She's just trying to prepare you, guyliner," Regina counteracted before she could think of a snappier comeback.

"Whoa!" Merida quieted her shaggy mount that had startled briefly as they approached a clearing, the falls roaring loudly ahead of them as they left the muted quiet of the forest. Regina noticed a slight crackle in the air. There was a powerful magic here. They had found the right place.


	4. Chapter 4

Hook had resumed his sullen silence as they passed through the lush green grass filled with perfectly spaced white flowers throughout. His mind was desperately trying to avoid picturing the hell that Emma must be experiencing that was likely a stark contrast to the serene scene before him.

Merida pulled her horse up at the edge of the meadow and pointed through the thicket to a lone tree standing at the base of a rough rock ledge.

"Look! It's a rowan tree!" Merida exclaimed, awe and excitement emanating from her tone until she saw the looks of bewilderment pass between the pirate and the mayor. "Aw, come on, don't tell me neither of ye've ever heard of the lore around the rowans!"

Another glance at the dark-haired pair confirmed their ignorance.

"Right useless bunch you are," Merida huffed, not quite under her breath.

Regina and Hook took turns appearing slighted before returning to looks of patience and ambivalence.

"Please, inform us," Regina prompted, though her tone belied slight irritation.

"Okay, well in our lore, the rowan is the tree that bore the first woman to life," she stated, matter-of-factly. "There's a lot more to it than that, but the point is, we're awfully close if the rowan's standin' here. Especially because it's said to protect against witchcraft."

"Including that of the Dark One?" Regina asked as she hopped off her horse and led it a few paces towards the tree.

"Exactly," the redhead said, an almost dreamy expression spreading across her face as she recited the words her mother had taught her as a child.

"Rowan tree, red thread, hold the witches all in dread," she murmured as she slowly separated a few strands of hair from her mass of curls and tugged. The two foreigners simply watched in silent wonder as the girl carefully pulled down a branch and gently detached two small twigs from the limb and formed a cross, tying the center securely with the strands of fiery hair.

"What are you doing?" Hook asked unceremoniously as Merida pocketed the small item she'd just fashioned. Though Regina sensed there was magic in the girl's action, she'd never seen a spell like that before and was equally curious.

"The rowan tree protects from harmful magic and evil spirits. Ye'r not supposed to use a knife on a sacred tree like that one, but using a couple twigs for a purpose like protecting ye'rself from the Dark One oughta be alright, I gather. One of 'em should do it. Wouldn't wanna risk upsetting the balance of magic 'round here, would ye?"

Hook and Regina nodded their agreement as Hook dismounted his horse and followed the two women past the sacred tree and through the thicket towards the sound of water bubbling heavily over rocks.


	5. Chapter 5

Emma coolly unlocked the door to her cage, feeling the magic of the bars spark a little under her fingers, pausing momentarily as she realized she must not have been the first Dark One to escape the confines of her current enclosure. The voices in her head murmured sounds of approval behind her closed eyes as she felt the heavy latch give way. She stepped through the threshold and suddenly the murmur turned to a roar. She collapsed to the floor when her head became filled with a barrage of voices that screamed at her to take a thousand different actions.

"SHUT UP!" She screamed into the empty cavern. A familiar yet unwelcome voice answered her. "Well, that's no way to treat your only friends, dearie."

She looked up slowly, sliding her hands down her blonde tresses from where they'd gripped at her pounding head to steady herself on the cold stone floor. "Gold?" she asked hesitantly. "I thought you were in a coma in Storybrooke."

The man in front of her chuckled darkly. "I am," he stated, "or rather, he is. I'm just an incarnation of all of the previous Dark Ones. I'm here to be a guide, of sorts, although… If you prefer to consult with another, perhaps you'd fare better with Gorgon, the Terrible."

With a slight pause followed by a pop, the man she knew as Rumplestiltskin transformed into a massive, fiery beast with protruding tusks and a thick, bristly hide. It snarled and grunted viciously at her until she screamed at it in her surprise.

"STOP!" she wailed.

"Suit yourself," Gold replied, suddenly replacing the terrifying creature. Emma stood up slowly. "Can I get out of here now?" she asked warily, wondering where her sense of indestructibility had gone since she had left her cell.

"By all means," the crocodile smiled crookedly and stepped aside to allow the blonde to pass, though when she turned around to see if he was following her, he had completely vanished.

She followed the dark passageway lit by the occasional torch along the walls, and only pulled one down from its perch as she saw a spiral staircase at the end of the long stone hallway. As she placed her foot on the first step, the stairs began to ascend by themselves, however. It was a testament to her upbringing that her first thought was of an escalator instead of recognizing the mechanism as having magical properties.

Though when the darkness started pooling around her, filling her senses, sticking like a heavy grease to her eyelids, in her ears, surrounding her body in an oily mess of the blackest scourge, she realized with a start that she'd unwittingly just accepted her final transformation into the essence of the Dark One. Killing the guard had allowed her to pass the test and had proven that she had truly accepted the darkness into herself. A small part of her was screaming from a corner of the deepest recesses of her mind that she had to stop before she went too far.

"No going back now, dearie," came the familiar voice again from the edge of the small clearing, startling Emma ever so slightly. Her eyes flashed open, adjusting quickly to the soft, muted green light.

"What are you doing here?" Emma demanded, no longer feigning patience as the last of the black grease-like substance slid off her boots.

"I told you. Think of me as your guide to being the Dark One."

"I don't need a guide. I'm not one of you. I don't want to be like you. I'll never hurt the people I love. The people who love me!" Emma spat out her speech, wondering if her vigor had effectively hidden her uncertainty concerning her willpower.

It hadn't.

"Tell yourself whatever you like, dearie," the imp replied, seemingly unphased by her passionate outburst. "You're already one of us."


	6. Chapter 6

Regina could hear a sigh like a small child's light laughter around the bushes to her right. The trio had begun looking for a "non-descript" magical item. Merida started to explain that the item could be anything from a shield to a boat, sword, treasure chest, or a compass. She said another legend claimed it was a mill of sorts which was capable of making flour, salt or gold out of nothing. The last possibility, she admitted, was the World Tree. When Killian had asked her if the World Tree was the rowan that we had seen earlier, she responded quickly that the "World Tree" was most likely not a tree at all.

At the confusion in the pair's eyes, Merida laughed softly before sitting on a fallen log for a moment to share the legends that fueled the magic of the land they were searching. Legends were clues to help them find the person they were seeking.

Merida explained in a shortened version the tales her mother had taught her as a child in which a smith named Will is either tricked or stolen away to a place in the north which is believed to be "the birthplace of all evil". Once there, he is commissioned to forge the Sampo but he's not told what it's supposed to be and he's given no tools or forge, but he's promised the beautiful daughter's hand in marriage as payment. So he finds a magical flame that he uses to build a forge and uses many of the finest metals like gold and silver and copper, but he makes many objects and each has a dark or evil aspect to them. The boat led them to the middle of the stormiest seas, or into the fiercest of battles. The sword found its way into the flesh of every enemy and even the wielder. The final and remaining Sampo was believed to be that of the mill. The only one that Will Smith did not break and throw back in the forge is the one that could make flour, salt and gold from thin air. This he locked deep in an underground cavern, which may also be at the root of the World Tree, now that I think about it. When Merida mentioned the "Mill" that could spin gold, she couldn't help remembering Rumplestiltskin's gold-spinning loom. The reality of what Emma might imminently face as the Dark One suddenly hit her and she realized she'd had enough of story time. They had to find Emma _NOW_.

No sooner had the trio split up, each knowing no better now what they should be looking for, than Regina heard the soft twang of an arrow leaving a bow behind her. She turned around quickly, her senses tingling as she tasted the metallic tang of dark magic in the air. Dark Magic meant Emma.

Regina nearly soared through the foliage to a small clearing with tall, upright stones standing in a circle surrounding Emma. Regina didn't have time to be happy to see Emma before she saw the redhead nock another arrow and pull back on the string.

"What the HELL are you doing?" Regina bellowed as she strode across the forest floor as though it was a bullpen. But she was the angry bull. Merida's red hair only furthering the metaphor in Regina's mind. _How dare anyone threaten my Emma_ , she thought before exclaiming aloud, "Put your weapon down! Emma will _not_ hurt anyone!"

"Yeh, sure. That's what she was trying to convince herself of too, when I walked through here and heard her yellin' at herself like a right crazy person, so I just figured I'd be cautious. I don't know this girl from Eve, so I've a right to fend fer meself! Besides, I'd have hit her if I really wanted to." Regina fought off the urge to be condescending and instead just addressed Emma, who was standing in the middle of the circle of giant stones looking more forlorn than Regina had seen her since the first day Henry had brought her home to Storybrooke. A single arrow from Merida's quiver lay on the ground near her feet where she had no doubt caught it in midair and dropped it. Regina's tracking abilities were a little rusty, but she could see a clear storyline in the fresh footprints. Emma had retreated. She had backed away from Merida, whose prints showed the mark of the hunter, not the hunted. Whatever Emma had said or done to make Merida switch gears from defense to offense, Emma was retreating from the battle. At the very least, she'd been about to.

 _How very unlike a Dark One_ , Regina mused.

Emma spared a glance in her direction, daring her to question the blonde, or to give her the go-ahead to rip this girls' heart out. She did neither, and turned towards Merida to command her in her most authoritative voice to lower her weapon.

"She won't hurt anyone," the Queen urged further when she saw the girl falter, "at least not while I'm here." Still she paused a moment longer, drawing out her scrutiny of the platinum blonde. When Merida finally released her from her death glare, Regina took a few steps towards Emma, hands and palms outstretched, reaching for a small consolation to soothe her harried nerves. She needed to feel her to prove that she was real. But the moment that Emma paused at the thought of welcoming this contact, because her mind suddenly filled with thoughts of kissing Regina, was the precise moment that Killian came crashing into the small clearing.

"Impeccable timing, as always, pirate," scoffed Regina.

Killian flashed a haphazard grin upon seeing Emma standing there, and Regina ducked back, but not before stealing a glance at Emma and noticing a very different look playing across her face as she looked back and forth between the raven-haired pair. Hook, of course, strode up and planted a kiss on the blonde's mouth before saying another word. She was a little surprised but not unhappy with the gesture until he pulled away suddenly and peered into her deep, sea green eyes, but there was a storm on the horizon.

"It didn't work," Hook looked baffled and slightly dejected. If his pout hadn't made him seem so pathetic, she might have laughed.

"You thought _I_ was your _true love_?" she asked incredulously.

Regina's eyebrows shot up in surprise before ducking her head as if trying to dodge stray verbal bullets. _That was harsh_ , she thought, _and that's coming from the former Evil Queen_.

Hook just stared at Emma like she'd just grown another head, with his mouth agape, silently hoping she'd take that garish question back. Emma just nonchalantly added, "Oh, honey. My happy ending isn't a man," she purred as she stroked his cheek with her knuckles. As her cool fingers caressed his stubbled jaw, her eyes found Regina's and sent a shiver straight down the brunette's spine. Hook clenched his jaw, tensing at the gesture, as though Emma was a boa constrictor offering to give him a hug. Regina had experienced that very reaction from several of her victims over the years, but she wasn't used to seeing someone else strike such fear into others in her presence.

Yet another fear struck her at that moment; even if she somehow managed to rid Emma of the darkness, how much of the blonde's true and heroic nature would remain untouched? How could she possibly escape the fate the darkness had thrust upon her? What if she was permanently tainted?

Whether light or dark, Emma Swan would be the death of her.

Without sparing him another word, Emma circled around him, catching Regina's eyes as she was peeling them from a certain twig on the ground. Emma only walked close to Regina, maintaining eye contact as she sashayed right past her, enjoying the feeling of Regina's gaze following her as she started down the forest path. Regina wasn't sure if she felt awe, lust, or just foreboding in that moment. Hook had been rendered speechless by the cavalier way in which the blonde had brushed off his feelings for her. Regina and even Merida could sense his distress as they headed back towards the tree to which they had tethered the horses. None of them spoke out loud as they made their way back up the wooded path, but Regina didn't miss Emma's furtive glances to the left of the path towards a noticeably cleared patch of forest. Before Regina had time to ask the younger woman what she was staring at, the horses whinnied a greeting as the four of them approached.

Merida's mount, however, intuitive beast that he was, nibbled his rope tether until it was freed of the branch and proceeded to back up a solid ten paces away from Emma. No doubt sensing the darkness in her, he never took his eyes off the blonde as he steadily backpedalled. Merida let out a sharp whistle, to which the long-haired steed stopped and began pawing at the ground to share his displeasure with their new company.

Regina subtly put a calming spell on her charge before offering Emma a leg up. Emma had felt the slight buzz in the air as Regina had waved her hand over the mare's forelock, but the wide-eyed expression on the horse's long face still made her pause for a moment before reaching for the mane and swinging her leg up over its back. Regina did not hesitate to deftly slide her leg up in front of Emma, taking the lead position nearest the mare's withers. As she settled back on the saddle, she was suddenly acutely aware of the proximity of her backside to a rather profound heat that seemed to build gradually between Emma's thighs. Regina's heart fluttered momentarily at the sensation, glad she was facing away from the group so no one would see the redness blossoming from her neck to her defined cheekbones. Emma could sense her body tense, though, and caught the scent of arousal rising off of Regina's body. She saw the slight flush of color in the skin just above Regina's high leather collar and just a tinge of pink marked the tops her her ears before she nudged the horse forward with her heels. She didn't turn around to see if the other two were following. She couldn't trust her facial muscles not to betray her at the moment. She realized at that moment that this was the closest she had allowed herself to be to the blonde for any extended period of time. Just as she reminded herself to let out the breath she didn't realize she'd been holding, she understood why: Emma Swan could break her heart. After all her years of locking her heart away, guarding it with every spell, and building up so many walls around herself, Emma had come crashing into her life and tore down decades of hard work by simply uttering one syllable; "Hi," with a flash of white teeth behind a shy, lop-sided grin.

Now Regina was left defenseless, with no walls to hide behind when faced with Emma's new ruthless demeanor. As if Emma was reading Regina's mind, the Dark One's to rest gently on the other woman's hips and gently pressed her thighs down into the saddle before surreptitiously placing both hands dangerously low on Regina's abdomen and pulled her backwards, tightly molding herself to the brunette as though she were trying to mount Regina instead of the horse.

"Shit. Emma, what're you…" Regina hissed and pulled up on the reins just as Merida and Hook caught up to them, the redhead reminding the dark-haired beauty that they still had another job to do. They had found Emma, now it was time to make good on their deal to help Merida on her quest.

"Alright, so what's the plan?" Regina asked, inexplicably flustered. The other three just looked at her for a moment, each one bearing different assumptions about what had the woman so on edge, but only one of the three people had noticed that the mayor's legs were shaking despite being wrapped tightly around the body of the horse. One corner of Emma's lips pulled upwards deviously, but her eyes were crinkled with a mirth that Killian noticed, though it seemed foreign to him somehow. Had he seen her smile like that before?

A rush of something like magic sparked a small but noticeable electric current between the two women as they sat astride the big bay horse, one of them edging towards the brink of mortification, the other wondering why she'd never tried to ruffle the Queen's plumage this way before.

"Well," Merida paused thoughtfully for a moment, " there's more to that legend of the Sampo that I was telling ye about earlier," she began hesitantly, as though she was unsure of how much information to divulge in front of the Dark One.

"It's okay," Regina reassured her, feeling a little better for knowing that she wasn't the only one feeling insecure in the group, even though it was for vastly different reasons.

Merida glanced around at Hook to be sure he was paying attention, too, which he was. He seemed grateful to have any task to focus on to distract him from Emma's 'devil may care' attitude towards him. Once she had their undivided attention, she continued her explanation of the legends of the Sampo as she had heard them told by clansmen that had passed through her kingdom from the islands to the east. She explained with unmasked skepticism that if Emma truly wanted to rid herself of the Darkness, that their quests might truly align to become one. Quen the blonde bowed her head forward in a nod that did nothing to settle the red-haired woman's doubts, one look from the regal woman in front of her told Merida that Regina would take on responsibility for the Dark One's actions if need be.

After what felt like an unnecessarily long pause, she continued.

The Sampo was no ordinary magical item. Previously she had imagined that the Samp would be found at the mouth of the Fire Falls at the base of the Crone's Tooth. But they had searched all over the area looking for Emma and they'd seen no sign of a magical doorway or cave entrance, which is what Merida had interpreted as the real "roots of the World Tree" that went deep underneath the mountain at the base of a monolith. As Merida pored over her various musings of the actual location that they were seeking, Emma realized she'd been too distracted since the trio's arrival to remember to tell them about the cavern she had escaped from just prior to Merida launching an arrow at her.

She carefully chose her moment to interject.

"Did you say it could look like a shield?" Emma asked quietly, her light brow furrowed in thought.

"Well, not to you, I didn't. But I told ye'r companions here before ye showed up. I'd wager that a Dark One doesn't reveal the mysterious sources of their knowledge," she challenged. Curiosity quickly won out over apprehension, however, and Merida inquired about what had prompted Emma's specific question.

"When I came out," Emma paused for dramatic effect until she heard a small gasp from the woman sitting in front of her, "of what I can only assume was the Dark One's tomb," and the brunette's pulse slowed down again as she turned her head to search the blonde's face. Listening intently, Regina simultaneously realized all that the blonde must have been through in the week and a half that Regina had been forging her rescue. _You're here now_ , Emma's eyes reassured her silently, a wordless exchange that did not go unnoticed by Killian, who remained the stoic mascot as he had been since they'd left the clearing where they'd found Emma.

"Once the dark substance that formed me into the Dark One flowed off of me, I was left standing on what I first thought of as a kind of medieval-looking sewer cover. Especially with the tar-looking stuff disappearing into it, that's what it reminded me of. But now that I think about it, there was a crest on it. There were markings, or runes around the edge of it as well. It may have been a shield of some kind placed at the mouth of the cavern to help seal in the Dark One. To trap… Me."

All three of the people listening to her describe the confines of her enclosure felt there was something missing from the story of her timely escape, but none of them felt like the missing pieces would gain Emma favor with them, so they left it alone. They decided instead to let her lead the way back to the large metal disc that marked the site of Emma's recent escape from captivity. As she did so, each was trying to avoid speculating about why Emma was so sure she wouldn't be caught again and thrown back in the cell by her captors. Their wild though not altogether inaccurate musings were cut short by their arrival and Emma's return to the small clearing that had borne Emma out of the damp caverns not two hours ago. As Regina slowed, Emma unceremoniously dropped off the back of the horse.

 _Dark One or not_ , Regina thought, damping a grin that threatened to form, _she's still an awkward duckling_.

The Queen needn't have been concerned with darkening the mood further when Emma's expression did that for her in the next moment. Emma was staring at a spot next to a tree at the edge of the thicket, looking as though she was either haunted or listening or both. She turned on her heel abruptly and marched over to the edge of the grove and to an outcropping of rocks before Regina realized that the metal plate at its center must have been glamoured to blend in unless you knew where to look. Regina and the others finally dismounted and Merida offered to take a turn at feeding and watering the horses before they tied them to to begin their search through the underground caverns that Emma had described. Regina offered to give her a hand, which Merida graciously accepted. Sensing that they could both stand a little distance from Emma's dark aura for a few moments.

Killian, on the other hand, seemed to need something from Emma before he could continue on this quest at her side. He needed to redeem himself in her eyes so he didn't feel like a useless accessory in this venture. He needed reassurance that his efforts to redeem her would not be overlooked. In fact, even a smile thrown his way would be welcome reward at the moment. It was not easily won, however, because even though the other two women ad left the thicket to walk the horses down to the stream, Emma still had yet to look at him. She was staring intently at a spot that Killian judged to be about 5'10" above what he now, with his new-fangled knowledge of Emma's world, recognized as some sort of ornate manhole cover. Not only was she staring, but her gaze seemed to communicate frustration or even anger towards what Killian misjudged as empty space save for the foliage at the edge of the trees.

"What do you see, love?" Killian asked gently, although his efforts to avoid startling her proved fruitless as she turned quickly to face him as though she'd already forgotten his existence.

That look cut him in half. Ever the stalwart rogue, however, he regained his composure and tried a different tack.

"Do I really mean so little to you, princess?" His look shook her out of her daze.

"What?" She raised an eyebrow and searched his face then. "No… I mean," she stuttered for a moment and suddenly looked flustered, "Are you seriously looking to be coddled right now?"

Hook lowered his eyes to the ground, effectively cowed, but she continued.

"In the past week and a half, I watched you die, I watched my best friend and co-parent of my child nearly die, then I was consumed by the darkness and spent the past nine days in a dark, moldy cell while I struggled to hold onto my humanity, before realizing that the only way to rid myself of the darkness and free myself from the cell was to allow the darkness to guide me. I had to let it overtake me so I could feel powerful again. I've been through all of that, sacrificing my sense of self, my hope, my very soul for everyone else, and you want me to feel bad because these powers are allowing me to see clearly? I won't apologize for telling you the truth. I may always love you, Killian, but you're _not_ my True Love."


End file.
